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10 Ways to Promote Your FundingTheArts Project Offline

Business Cards
Put a link to your FundingTheArts campaign on your business card, or have additional business cards made up solely to promote your campaign, so you can hand them to contacts and other people you meet.

Flyers
Nothing like a good old-fashioned flyer. You can print fancy flyers or go the copy machine route. Post flyers in places people who are likely to take an interest in your project might find them.

Letter
Perhaps your organization already has a mailing list, or maybe you already send an ask each year for donations to an annual campaign. Include a link to your FundingTheArts campaign on any ask letters you already send, or, if you don't already send a regular donation letter, consider sending a brief, friendly note to your mailing list with information about your online campaign.

Postcards
Create a quick, eye-catching postcard for your project and send it by mail to your list or distribute it in your town or to places you're likely to find potential funders. Mail stacks to like-minded organizations who might be able to display them in their lobbies or storefronts. (Theater companies do this all the time.)

Conferences and Trade Shows
Why not table at a conference or trade show to try and drum up support for your campaign? Keep in mind the overhead, of course, but some small industry trade shows are reasonably priced and are a great way to reach out to potential supporters.

Fundraisers & Benefits
Throw a low-cost fundraiser and invite people to come out and hear about your project in the flesh.

PR Campaigns
Tell the news! Of course you may have to use ON-line tactics (like email) to get your story into the right hands, but don't underestimate the power of the printed word (people still read newspapers), television, and radio to get your story heard. Write up a press release, create a short, targeted list of media outlets that might take an interest in your story, and get yourself out there.

Give it to Your Parents
Remember when you were a kid and you had to sell chocolate bars to fund your school sports team? The best way to sell the candy wasn't door-to-door — it was to let your parents take the box to work and sell it to their co-workers. Our parents (or grandparents, or siblings, or mentors) are our most unabashed supporters. Give those people some postcards or flyers they can take to their networks to ask for support on your behalf.

Real-Life Social Networks
Where do you regularly go each week to meet people? Are you part of any clubs or groups? Ask to make a short announcement at the end of your next meeting and tell people about your project. "Hey, I'm doing this online fundraiser and I wanted to let you guys know. Here is a postcard." It's amazing how well people respond when they're not protected by the anonymity of Facebook.

Those were just a few ideas — we want to hear from YOU. Have you had any success drumming up support for your FundingTheArts project outside of the Internet? How did you do it? Do you have any advice for others?

Choose Your Goal and Deadline

Two of the most important decisions you'll make when you create your art project campaign are your goal and deadline. Here are some tips to help you set your goal and deadline.

How to Choose Your Goal

1. Identify a discrete funding need.
You don't always need to raise your entire project budget with one campaign. For larger projects, we recommend that you run a different campaign for each unique stage. For example, as a filmmaker, you might run separate campaigns for development, production, post-production and distribution.

2. Check your goal with a simple calculation.
Divide your goal amount by 100. This is an estimate of how many people need to donate to your campaign in order to meet your goal. Do you have that many friends? Is this an attainable number of contributors? If the number seems too high or too low, adjust your goal to fit.

Remember, this is just an estimate. Every campaign is different and you may have a wider network or more generous contributors than most. If you don't meet your goal, you can choose a funding type that allows you to keep what you raise. You always get to keep any funds you raise above your goal.

3. Be aware of goal psychology.
Your goal is a reflection of your project. Too high and your project may seem unattainable, too low and it may seem unrealistic. Be sure to choose a goal that demonstrates that you understand exactly what you need. We recommend including a detailed budget in your pitch description to show contributors how you will use the money.

We find that most campaigns that reach their goal actually exceed it. You can pass your goal and still attract new contributors. We recommend that you post an update to your Pitch to tell people the full budget of your project and ask them to help you meet that higher number. Or, tell them what you will do with the extra funds and encourage people to keep contributing until the end of your campaign. Exceeding your goal is never a bad thing!

How to Set Your Deadline1. More time doesn't equal more money.
Campaigns on FundingTheArts can run for a maximum of 60 days, regardless of which funding structure you choose. More time does not always mean a higher chance of reaching your goal. You should steadily raise funds through the duration of your campaign, so it's important to consider how long you can actively manage it. Successful campaigns on FundingTheArts have an average deadline of 47 days.

2. When do you need the money?
After your campaign has ended, it can take up to two weeks for the funds to arrive in your account. Give yourself enough time between the end of your campaign and when you need to start paying bills to account for this delay. The time it takes for your funds to arrive depends on your bank's ability to process the disbursement, so we can't speed this up. Do not set your deadline for the day before you need the money.

3. When will you be ready to start raising funds?
Your deadline will begin to count down immediately once your campaign has been created. If you need two weeks to set up your campaign, we recommend adding an extra two weeks to your deadline. 85% of campaigns that reach their goal start raising funds on the first day of their campaign, so it's important to launch only when you're ready.

Create A Great Pitch

Your campaign should include a compelling Pitch Description and video.

Your Pitch will cover the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your campaign story. Be honest, transparent and authentic. Your Pitch should explain your mission to a stranger and compel them to contribute in a just a few succinct paragraphs.

• Who are you? Introduce yourself and your team. Tell your story.
• What are you trying to raise money for? Be specific, including your budget.
• When will your project take place?
• Where will your project take place?
• Why are you raising funds? Show your passion, explain the impact of your project or tell us about the people who will benefit from it.
• How can people get involved? Beyond just donating money, what else can people do to help you?
In addition to your Pitch text, be sure to include a Pitch video. Indiegogo campaigns with videos raise 114% more on average than projects without one. Videos help reveal your story and connect the audience to your idea. You don't need a fancy camera or video editing software to make a compelling Pitch video. The best videos are personal and succinct. Anyone can make a great video!

Eight Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Campaign with Social Media

Many of you are already using social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn and YouTube to make connections and create interest in your ideas.

But are maximizing your funding on FundingTheArts using the incredible power of social media to drive traffic to your campaign?

Here are 8 things you can do right now to start driving more traffic — and funds! — to your campaign using your existing social media channels.

1. Update your written Twitter profile to include a link to your FundingTheArts campaign.

2. Add a link to your FundingTheArts campaign to the description of any video you have posted on YouTube or Vimeo.

Great Perk Ideas

Perks are benefits that you can offer in exchange for contributions to your campaign. Perks enable you to engage fans, build trust and provide an opportunity for more people to get involved. You can offer one-of-a-kind experiences, special acknowledgments or limited supply products. Use your Perks to increase demand for your campaign.

• Sell downloadable copies of your album or EP
• Offer your album in vinyl. Giver away a limited number of signed editions
• Give away a role in your music video
• Write, record or dedicate a song

How to Share Your Campaign

FundingTheArts provides each campaign with a set of Share Tools to help you spread the word about your project. The Share Tools are located in the box below your Pitch image or video. Please note that your Share box will appear only after your campaign is live, not while your campaign is still in Draft mode.

Launching a campaign is just the beginning. Money does not just show up out of nowhere. It requires a good and consistent outreach; like sharing your campaign with friends, family and fans. We make it very easy for contributors and fans to help you spread the word, but you still need to cultivate the early base to jump start your crowdfunding.

How to Use the Share Tools
• Copy the campaign URL and paste it into an email or social media update
• Click on the Facebook, Google Plus or Twitter icons to share through your social media networks
• Add a widget to your blog or personal website. Click Embed and then copy and paste the widget code.
• Send a direct email from FundingTheArts

If you use any of the tools in the Share box, FundingTheArts can keep track of all the people who visit your Campaign Homepage. You can see visitor information on the Analytics tab of your campaign Dashboard (the top right hand corner).

Sharing your campaign helps increase your ArtistMeter and increases your likelihood of reaching your goal. ArtistMeter is the algorithm that FundingTheArts uses to rank campaigns on the Browse or Homepages. The ArtistMeter also determines which campaigns are featured on our blog or in our newsletter.

How to Share Your Campaign Offline
Creating an online crowdfunding campaign typically means that your primary outreach will be based online. That said, however, offline strategies toward sharing your campaign can be just as important as your online strategies. For ideas on how to share your campaign offline, please see our blog article: 10 Ways to Promote Your FundingTheArts Project Offline.

Related Links:
For more information about ArtistMeter, please visit our article: The ArtistMeter

Send Campaign Updates

On your Campaign Homepage, there is a tab called Updates. You can use this section to announce progress with all your followers. When you post an update it will be sent as an email to contributors and fans who have chosen to follow your campaign. Updates can be sent during or after your campaign.

Benefits of Updates
• Build trust. The more progress you show through updates, the more people will build trust that you have what it takes to get the project done. That confidence will translate into more funds and sharing.
• Build Community. An update gives someone the opportunity to check back in with your campaign and share it again with their friends. Updates also give people a more personal look into your project.
• Build ArtistMeter. The more you and your community interact with your campaign and share it, the higher your campaign's ArtistMeter will climb. The higher your ArtistMeter, the greater the chance your campaign has in getting featured on our homepage, in blogs and in FundingTheArts press.

How Many Updates Should I Post?
Campaigns that post 1 - 5 updates each week double their contributions! Here's a graph from our Insights blog to demonstrate:

When Are Updates Sent to Followers?
Campaign updates are typically sent within 5 minutes of posting. If you post more than 2 updates within 12 hours, all of the updates you post within this time period will be aggregated and sent to your followers in one batch, along with a link back to your campaign.

The ArtistMeter

FundingTheArts measures the activity of a campaign using an algorithm we call ArtistMeter. Search rankings, placement on the site, featured spots in our newsletter or blog, and inclusion in our press outreach are all determined by ArtistMeter. FundingTheArts is a merit-based platform, which means that campaigns earn featured spots by staying active. We don't curate campaigns, nor do we offer paid placement. Your visibility on the site is controlled entirely by you and your community.

What is included in ArtistMeter?
Your ArtistMeter is a combination of many factors that measure the overall activity of your campaign along with the completeness of your pitch and media.

Your ArtistMeter is a rolling average, so it's important to continually keep your campaign active. Your campaign is ranked relative to all of the other campaigns on the site. By staying active, your ArtistMeter will continue to go up. If you have been working hard at your campaign and you still don't see yourself on our homepage or category pages, don't worry! Sometimes it just takes time to build a high ArtistMeter.

We use ArtistMeter as our key measure because we find that there is a direct correlation between campaign activity and fundraising success. The more active you keep your campaign, the more likely you are to meet your goal.

Is a PayPal Account Required to Start a Campaign?

Yes, a PayPal account is required to start a campaign.

What Is Funding The Arts?

Every artist should have the opportunity to raise money for the art they are passionate about, now they do. Unlike any other crowd-funding site, Funding The Arts is a crowd-funding platform created just for artist's. Funding The Arts is also a great place to discover what artist's around the world are passionate about and how you can get involved.